Japanese mini-muumuu

This is not my most flattering garment; instead, it is all about the fabric.  I selected this linen (Nani Iro Nuance) ages ago and loved the painterly print--it looks hand made.  The best way to showcase the large and rather subtle print was with a garment with as few seams as possible.  And since the fabric is Japanese, it is only fitting that I found the right pattern in one of my many Japanese pattern books.

This is the cover of the book.  I purchased it in a small bookstore in Tokyo about 6 years ago, and I can't find an English translation at Amazon.  It's definitely not in English, but instructions are overrated anyhow :)  Here's the photo of the garment in the book:

While being super simple, the pleat detail in the front is lovely and it fits the garment slightly through the bodice.  Now seeing it in photos, perhaps I'll go back and make the stitches more prominent.

I sewed a size 9 based on measurements and the fit is good.  I did raise the armholes by about an inch, and I could have raised them even more (see below).

The fabric is not soft, but instead of lining the garment, I decided to wear a silk chemise under.  After all, I have to find a use for the La Perla one I "forgot" to send back after purchasing it for "research" for one of my assignments in my Intro to Fashion class :)

This is not a glamorous garment.  Maybe with some accessories?  But it is comfortable!  And it's nice and cool in the summer, even with a silk slip as an added layer.  

I'm glad to have finally used this fabric I've had in my stash for so many years.  And it's triggered two other garments to be made with long-held lengths.  I'd say I'm whittling down my piles of fabric, except that I just placed a big order for more, so really I'm just making room.

Adelaide #2 in double gauze

For Mother's Day, we set out to Santa Cruz for a lovely brunch at Gabriella Cafe (wonderfully adorable place, and worth the drive!).  We got to SC early and I could request anything I wanted on my special day, so I made my family take me to Hart's Fabric for a 20 minute, whirlwind shopping spree.

This amazing double gauze by Kokka ended up in my basket, originally intended to be another Hayden top.  Somehow, I must have requested the wrong amount and when I got home, I realized I had 2.5 yards of the stuff!  Change in plans--the fabric was going to be a dress!  At 45" wide, it was enough, with not much left over.

Crazy stuff: the day after my post about the drafting changes I made to the armscye of the Adelaide Dress, Colette released an addendum with a revised version of the pattern!  Clearly, it had nothing to do with me, but it was nice to see they take the feedback from their users seriously.  The fixed both the strap angle and the armscye draft!

I sewed this dress earlier this week, but waited a couple days to finish it while I waited (not very patiently, I might add) the 2 days it took for Snap Source to ship my navy snaps.  Unfortunately, the "capped prong ring" type that I bought don't work with my snap pliers--they are too small for the pearl snap attachment and too bit for the normal ring attachment.  So, I improvised and put a scrap if thick fabric in the pearl snap attachment and it worked.  I am determined to never resort to the blue pound-with-a-hammer tool again.

I wanted to have snaps that blended in with the fabric so I could wear the dress with a particular belt, and felt like the pearl snaps or any other type of snap would compete with the gold buckle.  I've been waiting to make a dress that works with this adorbs scalloped belt (from Boden).

Here in Northern California, this is how I wear all my dresses: with a cardigan.

How much do I love just making a pattern without testing the fit?  I love it enough to have a wardrobe full of multiples, and the strong desire to get a basic set of perfect patterns.  I'm working on it!  There may be one more of these in my future....

Hawaiian sunrise Hazel

We were pretty lax in our vacation planning--we were more or less spontaneous in the things we did once we were on Oahu.  However, I did look up fabric stores on the island before we went and was pleased that a trip to buy some fabric could be coordinated with another activity on the Honolulu/Waikiki side of the island.  With husband and kids in tow, I couldn't spend heaps of time in the store, so I grabbed a bunch of fabric and headed to the cutting table.  This gradient-dyed fabric was right there near the check-out line and when the person in front of me bought a length of it, I couldn't resist either and bought 3 yards.

I had researched Colette's Hazel dress for a different and unrealized project, but it was the clear choice for this lovely fabric.  The pattern has cutting instructions for border prints, so it worked out perfectly.  I went with a size 0, grading to 4 at the waist.  It would be more comfy in a slightly larger size, so next time I'll go with a 2.

The fabric is truly a gorgeous color, but is an unfortunate cotton/ polyester blend.  At $3.99/yard, I didn't really care!  You can get it right here (5 yard minimum, unfortunately), with a few other colorways (blue and orange).  The fabric is fairly thin, so a strapless bra is necessary (wahh!).

I love how fitted the bodice is, but the dirndl skirt is not my favorite.  It's not the pattern's fault--I just don't love gathered waistlines on me (which is funny, since one of my near-future projects is a gathered-waist skirt....)

By the time I got to the hem, I didn't want to lose any of the purple at the bottom--it definitely needs it for visual balance.  So, I didn't hem it!  Since the bottom hem was cut along the selvage edge, I kept the slightly frayed-looking edge intact.  It's not ideal, but I think it looks fine.

I have to say, I'm not feeling very excited or inspired by my other Hawaiian fabrics, so they'll have to wait for a while.  I sent two lengths of rayon to my mom--hopefully she makes something fabulous out of them!

Can't wait to wear this to the next summer picnic!

Vintage-inspired linen sundress

If you're arriving here from Britex, welcome!

A couple of weeks ago, my family took a trip to Hawaii, which nicely coincided (with a slight extension of deadlines--thank you, Joie :) with my latest Britex project.  A lovely linen sundress was the obvious choice; after all, doesn't everyone sew new garments before going on vacation?!

The linen I chose for this project is fairly lightweight, though slightly more opaque than you'd expect, and therefore not requiring a lining in the skirt. Linens are always a bit shifty while cutting and sewing, so I had to take care not to distort the fabric.  Overall, I found the fabric very easy to sew and it was the perfect choice for this style.

For this dress, you really can't wear a bra, so for the bodice lining, I skipped my usual first choice for linings (Bemberg rayon) and went with a silk/ cotton lawn to keep it from feeling sticky in the humidity of summer.  

For the pattern, I selected the vintage-inspired Siren Sundress by Decades of Style.  The dress has a faux-wrap front bodice, with secured wrap skirt in the back.  However, the highlight of the design is the cross-wrapping straps that wrap around the waist to tie in the back.  Lots of wrapping going on in this dress!  While it takes a while to get it on (with the aid of a mirror or significant other to keep the straps flat), once "assembled", it is comfortable and secure.  

The wrap around the waist is really flattering!  And the back is so pretty and unusual!

Even though it seems as though you can wrap and adjust straps to make it fit, I would highly recommend making a muslin first.  The waist wrap is fixed, and the seam at the shoulders should sit on your shoulder line, so after making a muslin it was clear I had to make some significant petite adjustments to the pattern. First, I trimmed the hem by about 6". Second, I had to shorten the bodice so the waist seam would sit at my natural waistline.   Tomorrow I'll post a quick tutorial for shortening a wrap-style top (or head over to Britex).

Aside from my pattern adjustments, the sundress was a pretty quick sew.  I can envision it in a number of lightweight fabrics, such as a linen stripe or print, or a fairly opaque cotton lawn.  Very fun for a summer barbecue, or with the right fabric, an evening cocktail party in the depths of summer!

Mahalo to Britex for providing the fabulous linen fabric and our amazing hosts in Haleiwa** for allowing me to take photos in their yard!  

** By the way, if you are looking for the best rental in all of Oahu (in our humble opinion) you can do no better than this cottage on the North Shore.  Just my plug for a great place; I wasn't asked to saying something nice :)

Plain jane dress

I know, it's a boring blue dress.  But guys, before taking these photos, I'd worn this for two days and it even spent time folded in the bottom of the stroller during Mom-tot swim class this morning.  And it still looks respectable!   If I have to choose something to wear, I'll grab the boring yet incredibly comfortable, flattering, hides stains, looks nice (it's a dress!), doesn't wrinkle garment any day, and twice on Sunday (or twice this week, as the case may be).  Why do people think dresses are so fussy??

The pattern is the same semi-vintage (since it's not available anymore) Vogue pattern as this one.  It's super simple, but has a flattering shape and takes almost no time to sew up.  I used light weight stretch denim from Joann's and the contrast trim on the inside is some kind of light weight striped cotton from Britex.  To take it up a few notches, I used bias tape liberally--around the neckline, waistline, hemline and armholes.  All for my own enjoyment :)

I finally ordered some new labels, too!

Nonchalantly checking out my biased-trimmed hem.  Since this is an A-line skirt, with a fairly wide hem (about 1 1/2"), I ran a basting stitch around the edge, eased the fullness and then sewed the bias tape on to hold it in place.  Then, sewed the hem.

Contrasting pockets, too!  More and more I appreciate the details that only I see on the inside.

Best part of all--I can wear it with my retro 80s belt!  (Purchased here.)  I have woefully few opportunities to wear it, but with this dress, it's a highlighted accessory!

I'd wear it again tomorrow, but that would just be weird.  In the laundry it goes!

Sundress struggles

Some projects take longer than others.  Some walk that fine line between "worth finishing" and "garbage-worthy".  Case in point: this dress.  This dress hovered over the trash can on numerous occasions.  So many ripped out seams, so many alterations, so many changes to the construction.  The pattern (Vogue V1086, by Tracy Reese) had sketchy instructions ("sew {this impossible} seam as show in the {single, oversimplified} drawing").  It had no final garment measurements and strange construction. Initially, I had high hopes when I saw that the instructions specified French seams, but it all went downhill from there.  Among other changes, I  raised the neckline by multiple inches--my less than abundant chest couldn't fill out the very blousy and full bodice.  I know--I should know better by now what works on my body, but we can all hope, right?  Omigosh--and no pockets!  And I couldn't even work them into the design because of a side zipper. 

The fabric, rayon challis from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study line, was purchased at Hart's Fabric in nearby Santa Cruz, CA.  For Mother's Day, I requested family strawberry picking and time at a new (to me) fabric store while the boys entertained themselves at the beach.  Pretty win-win for everyone!  This rayon is definitely not the easiest to work with, but it really makes a lovely, flowy dress, so it's worth the extra effort. And the fabric design really hides the flaws in the dress! 

I'll definitely wear the dress, it's so darn comfortable, but it doesn't fit as well as I'd like.  The midriff is pretty loose, but perhaps that's the reason for the comfy-ness!  It's going to be nice when the weather gets really steamy.

Too dressy for a picnic?  At least with the full skirt, I can sit on the ground with modesty :)  One thing is for sure: after all my sewing troubles with this one, the next seriously needs to be a no-fuss project.

Related note: Melly Sews is hosting a whole month of sundresses!  Hop on over to see the impressive line-up of tutorials!